History of Art with Cultural Studies

History of art with cultural studies is a combination that reflects how narrow it would be to understand visual art without the broader cultural landscape in which it is made and received. Art history provides the methods and knowledge to engage with the visual arts, across painting, sculpture, photography, film, architecture, and design, across different periods, places, and traditions. Cultural studies broadens this to examine the full range of cultural practices and their contexts, including film, literature, music, media, and everyday culture, asking how culture is produced, consumed, and contested within societies shaped by power, identity, and history.

At the University of Leeds, this three-year programme allows you to explore practices and interpretations of art and culture across an exceptionally wide range of topics, combining a critical historical approach to art with the focused study of diverse cultural forms and theoretical frameworks. You will engage with the histories of painting, film, photography, literature, media, and music, while also developing a deep understanding of the different social, economic, and ideological contexts in which culture is produced and consumed. The programme includes a sandwich placement year and a year abroad, alongside embedded work placement opportunities, giving you professional experience in a cultural or heritage context and international exposure that enriches your academic studies.

Graduates work in galleries and museums, arts administration, cultural policy, journalism, publishing, auction houses, heritage organisations, broadcasting, education, advertising, and the creative industries more broadly. The critical and analytical skills the degree develops are valued wherever the ability to interpret, contextualise, and communicate about culture is required. Many graduates pursue further study in art history, curating, cultural studies, media, or heritage management.